Xcel Energy Center to Host Rescheduled Jan. 22 Game

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. The American Hockey League on Wednesday announced that the Grand Rapids Griffins and Houston Aeros will play a rescheduled game on Monday, March 7 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The game, which will be played on the home ice of Houstons NHL affiliate, the Minnesota Wild, will face off at 8 p.m. EST.

The contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 22 at the Toyota Center but was postponed due to the Griffins snow-related delays in traveling to Houston that day. The rescheduled date will conclude a three-day tour of the upper Midwest for the Griffins, who will visit Chicago on Saturday, March 5, and Milwaukee on Sunday, March 6.

It will mark the Griffins first-ever visit to the state of Minnesota and their second game this season moved to an NHL venue. On Nov. 24, Grand Rapids earned a 4-3 shootout win over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Calif.

For Grand Rapids defenseman Travis Richards, who has played 701 regular season and playoff games for the Griffins over the last nine seasons, the game will mark his first opportunity to play in his home state since April 5, 1996, when his Michigan K-Wings won a 2-1 road decision against the Minnesota Moose. St. Paul is located 19 miles from Richards hometown of Crystal and just 10 miles from Minneapolis, where he played his college hockey for the University of Minnesota.

One of North Americas premier arenas, the four-year-old Xcel Energy Center in 2004 played host to both the NHL All-Star Game and the World Cup of Hockey. Including Edmontons Rexall Place, which is home to both the AHLs Road Runners and the NHLs Oilers, the X will become the 13th NHL building to host an AHL contest this season.